Upgraded parameter model of frame pin-supported wall structures

Abstract

A frame pin-supported wall structure (FPWS) is a typical rocking structure that releases constraints at the bottom of the wall. The existing studies have demonstrated that FPWSs can control the structural deformation effectively. A distributed parameter model (DPM), which consists of a flexural beam and a shear beam connected by infinitely rigid links, is used to describe the performance of FPWSs. The flexural and the shear beams represent the wall and the frame, respectively. However, there are several flaws in the DPM. For instance, (1) it is not appropriate to simplify the frame into a shear beam, (2) the infinitely rigid links cannot demonstrate the interaction between the frame and the wall properly, and (3) the stiffness variation along the height of the frame is not considered. In this study, an upgraded parameter model (UPM) was proposed to simulate the FPWS based on the DPM. Specifically, (1) a lumped mass model is employed to simulate the frame instead of the shear beam; (2) the pin-supported wall (PW) and the frame are connected only at several positions, that is, at the floor levels; and (3) the variation of the stiffness is also considered in the UPM. The results via the UPM were compared with those using DPM and OpenSees model. A parametric analysis was then carried out using the UPM. The results indicated that the proposed UPM can describe the behavior of FPWSs accurately.